Art of desiccating milk and the like



VLINrrlazo ,STATEs# PATENT OFFICE;

aIcnmanw'. e.. vsrucizxn, or CHICAGO', ILLINOIS, AssIe'Nonero THE e. aBUHL COMPANY, or cinese@ILLINOIS,l Al CORPORATION or ILLINOIS..

or nnsrcca'rINe vMILK AND THE LIKE. l

' To alliwhomzt mag/concern.'

' STUTZKE, al subject of the Emperor of Grer;

many, residing at Chicago, in the cbunty` of .'Qook and State oflIllinois, have invented Specification Of Ie-tters Patent. l PatentedAug; 17, 1920. i Application 111er). July 9, 1917'. Serial No. 179,490.blector' having a four-armed self-sealing" v` Be it known hat v`I,RioHARn W. vGr. dumping gate 24'at itsbasel' '25 of the final collector23 Th e gas outlet may discharge dlrectly to the atmosphere.

' -The operation of my improved apparatus-'60 i new andn usefulImprovements in the Art is as follows: LThe tubes ofthe heater 1TH )tirebrou ht rto apro er operating temperal of Desiccating Milk andthe like,of'which the following is a specification. I My invention relates to theartof deslccatingliuid substances, and more particularly milk, eggs,blood and other albuminous com.

. pounds, vvhph are -said to Abechemically 'e application oftemperatures altered by t .below the boiling point of water.

My invention will be lfully understoodfrom the vfollowing specificationtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

[I lll 1 i Y Figure 1 is a diagrammatib side elevation,

partlyxin vertical section, of one form of ap paratus embodying myinvention, and Fig. 2 is asectien on the line 2 of Fig. 1. 'f

' Referring more particularly to theedrawings, the numeral 10 designatesay horizontal 2li-,drying chamberintowhich the fluids to be,

' desiccated are introduced, preferably by means `-of anatomizer,orspray-nozzle, 11. The chamber 10 discharges Into the tangen-Q tial inlet of a cyclone dust-.collector 12, the central outlet member13 of which communicates through a conduit 14 'withV the inlet side of acentrifugal blower 15. The outlet side ofi'the blower opens into anenlarging Jrnonduit 16, which in turn communicates with the inlet sideof a horizontal tubular heater 1g, the tubes of which areheated byfurnace gases,V orby direct iringor'i.in any fother suitable manner. Avalved vent passage v161 opens out of the conduit 16.

40j The apparatus above describ ld constitutes a vented circulatingsystem o the general ferm -described in my 1,215,889, of February 13,1917.

- VMy -pre'sent invention is more especially concerned with `means fordischarging dried solids from the circulating system, such' meanscomprising a centrifugal; blower 18,

prior Patent No. -1

""the base f the. collector 12.

the inlet side of which is connected by a con- 22 with the 'tangentialinlet ol Ia'final colvW5' lector-23 of the ,cyclone type, this last col.

-ample to carryoif the dried solids.

ure, an the main lower 15 being set in operatlon, the contents of thecirculatory SyStem is set in motionin the direction ih- "65 icated bythe arrows. Water is introduced l through the spray-nozzle 11, andbycontact with the heated air becomes volatilized. The

exhaust blower 18 being put inoperation, and supplementing the vent161gas is with- 70 drawn from the c1rculatory system at `such j a rateas to"prev,ent rise of pressure'there- 1n, and through the continuedinjection of water the air initially contained within the system isgradually replacedbywatervapor, Whic in its 'circulation becomessuperheated in the tubes of the heater "17 ,Y andtherefore" capable ofvolatilizing a further quantity of li uid injected through the sray-nozzlev tially reduced. By' proper regulation as to v90 vtemperatureand volume, the mixture entering the final collector 2 3 will be'reducedto a moderate temperature and will contain less Y water than isrequired'v forl the saturation of the air at that temperature. The valvein the vent pipe 161 may be closed and the `en- .tire volume of v s1,po1 'r which must be discharged `to maintain a constant pressurewithin the system-.may pass outward from ever to vent the greaterproportion of the vapor from the regular orifice, permittmg only a smallproportionsgto pass from. the base of the collector, this small amountbeing A"Proper operating' conditions having been 'established' inl themanner described, the

substance Yto be .desiccate'd, for example milk,

vwill. be introduced through the spray-noz zl e 1-1,` 'and will have itswater content `llt- 110 he Uvalve 21 in the air-in et pipe 20 80 vI'prefer how- 100 i stantaneously volatilized by contact with thecurrent of superheated steam, which it duction of the milk through thespray-nozzle 11. In the conduit 19 the superheated steam carrying thedried..milk solids in suspension w1ll become admixed with the d1- lutingair and its temperature will be substantially reduced. The mixed gas,now being in fact unsaturated air of moderate temperature-isdischargedinto the final collector 23 where it precipitates the driedmilk solids to the bottom of the same and is ven ted to the atmosphere,Vor, if desired, to a second collectin device through the \con duit 25.The dried milk solids may be continuously removed from the systemby thedumping-gate24. y

As a specic example of the method of Aemploying my process the followingmay be given: The temperature of the superheated steam entering thedrying chamber 10' from the heater 17 will 4be maintained at 240O F. By,the absorption of heatin the volatilization of the water content of themilk this temperature will be reduced to 220 F. atfthe' outlet side ofthe drying chamber. Having determined the volume of the water-vaporV at220 F., which `is to be continuously vented from the s stem through theconduit 19 therein, the v`a ve 21 will be so set as to permit theintroduction of 4+ volumes of air at a temperature of 122o F., and of asaturatiomof 12%. The admi'xture of this quantity of air will re-v ducethe temperature of the mixed gas to approximately 140 F., witharesulting Iair saturation of 100%.

The process and, apparatus 1above de#A scribed is articul'arly valuableAfor vthe treatment o milk and the 'like albuminous^ substances, in thatthe dryin is instantaneously eectedMin an atmosp ere ofsupei" heatedwater-vapor. By reason of the ab-` sence of free oxygen in 'this atmoshere all .danger of yoxidation is avoided, an -.furt ermore the dryingis accomplished' so quickly thatthere is no opportunity for the albumento be coa ulated.- Having accomplished the drying o the albuminoussubstances without chemical change thereof, it becomes im'- portant toremove the dried soli'ds from the heated circulatory system as quicklyas possible, in order that the may Anot b0- come cooked orotherwiseanged by pro'- longed `contact with the superheated vapors, orwith the hot walls. To keep them 1n the desired dried condition,however, it.

is essential that the waterevapor which carries them, and which occupiesthe voids between the particles, shallbe displaced by air, without beingpermitted to condense.

This resultv is Aaccomplished by withdrawtacle, such as the finalcollector23, and the l -collected solids 4may be cooled to atmospherictemperature without again becoming v wet, by reason of the fact thatthey are now mixed with air'and not with water-vapor.

lWhile Lhave described in considerable detail. one specific 'embodimentof my invention, it'is to be understood that this is illustrative only,and that the invention is not limited to the details of procedure `andapl paratus described, except in so far as such mit/'ations arelincluded withinthe terni's of the accompanying claims, `in which it ismy intention to claim allnovelty inherent in my\invention as broadly asis permissible, in view of the prior art.

What Il claim as new is:

1. The method of' desiccating fluid sub' stances,l which consists insub]ecting said substances in finel and collecting the resultant driedsolidsfrom the mixture.

2.l The method' 1of desiccating fluid substances, which cons'ist's insub]ectin said divided form to the action of a current o superheatedwater-vapor, subsequently admixmg said current with air,

said current, admixing Jthe concentratedstream of solids and watervaporwith'air, and collectingA the solids in such admixed stream.

3. The metlod of stances, which consists in 'subJecting Asaid substancesin iinely divided i-orm to the acdesiccating fluid sub- .I

tion4 of acircul'ating current'A of superheated water-vapor,concentratingv the resultant.

dried'solids in a ortion of the said current,

,substances in finely divided form to thev action of a circulatingcurrent of superheated water-vapor, eii'ecting 'a preliminaryvcollection of the resultant dried solids within the circulating system,venting thel collected solids from' the system insuspenslon ma A1.3.0

withdrawing -sai portion from the circulasultant dried solids within thecirculatingv system, venting the collected solids from the system insuspension in a discharging current of superhea-ted Water-vapor,admixing the said current with air and effecting a final collection ofthe driedsolids fromsaid admixed current. v

6. The method of desiccating liquids con.- taining albuminoussubstances'such as milk,

which consists in subjecting said substancesv in finely divided form tothe action of a circulating current of superheated Water-vapor,

preliminarily collecting vthe resultant dried solids within thecirculatory system, venting the collected solidsfrom the system insuspension in a dlscharging current of superheated water-vapor, admixingsaid current vwith air, and finally collecting the suspended solidsfromithe admixed current.

7.?An apparatus for the desiccation of fluid substances and comprising acirculating system,.`1neans for setting up a circulation within thesaidsystem, means for heat-v ing the circulating medium, means for intro-4ducing the iuldtobe desiccated in finel di-v 'vided form into thecirculating me lum, means .for effecting a concentration of theresultant dried solids, vand.means for ldischarging said concentratedsolids from lthe circu atory system in suspension 'in a-,dis-

charging currentof the desiccating medium,

l 8. Anl `apparatus for the desiccation of fluid substances andcomprising a circulatory system, means for vsetting up a circulationWithin' :the system, means for heating the lcirculatingmedium, means forintroducing the said fluid substances in finely divided Vformintothesaid circulating medium,

means -for effecting *a lconcentration of the resultant dried solidsWithin the circulatory system, means .for-discharging the concentratedsolids from .the system in suspension` in a discharging current 'of thecirculating medium, means for admixing air with said dischargingcurrent, and means for collecting the suspended solids from the admixedstream'.

` RICHARD W. G. sTUTzKE.

